Nils Slush

[gill man]

I've read about some guys complaining about the slush a Nils leaves in the hole. How bad is it really?

I have a Jiffy now and after breaking through, kick or step down about 1/2 the ice chips pile with my boot, and as I lift the auger burp the throttle just slightly to spin the flighting a bit. Cleans the hole pretty well and can usually fish the hole without scooping if I want.

How do the Nils do? Is it really a problem or just that the technique of using the auger to remove slush from a hole is a little more important on these due to the smaller diameter flighting?

I like the looks of the Solo too but the stories of them eating up blades quickly and changing pitch with no abuse concern me a little.

I do own a 6" Nils hand auger and love it. Slush doesn't seem to be a huge issue with that but I'm usually drilling through less than 12" of ice with it too.

Tucker

[dougger222]

Used a nils for the first time today and although impressed with the weight found a few things not the greatest.

#1. Leaves a ton of slush in the hole, guessing this is caused by a slow spin. Much like your jiffy my sm lazer can deslush the hole by placing the bit back in the hole after clearing around the hole with my boot and spin out all slush.

#2. Got "stuck" in the hole several times. My buddy said it was because I was pushing down on it but it did it when I didn't push down at all. Even he got stuck a few times and he drills 150 holes a day.

#3. Although fast couldn't drill faster than my 2.5hp Solo with a 10 in Lazer bit with two year old blades. He wouldn't bet for augers after he watched me drill one hole with the solo. Before seeing the solo in action he was thinking he could drill two holes with the nils to one with the solo. Took video to prove the head to head competition just need to upload. Started at the same time and the solo finished a couple seconds faster every time.

The Nils is 3 trips old...

[Esox_Magnum]

Need to lift on the Nils when drilling, should never ever need any downpresure at all, blades are agressive and digs...Not sure what you mean by slow spin, mine don't spin slow, if you kick the shavings away you can get a fairly clean hole but i fill mine back up with the shovel so a non issue for me, when drilling holes to hole hop it;s not an issue with slush...As for speed they are fast and only run a 1.35 hp motor over your 3hp solo, I challeneged a guide friend of mine to run his solo against my nils, he declined but does envy mine...I wouldnt trade my nils for anything currently on the market, no plans to ever sell it for something else....

[BryeGuy]

How the heck did you get your alarm to go off when there is a Nils posting, Esox?! JK.

I was a little shy about buying a Nils too because all you hear is word of mouth. I took the plunge on a used one last year.

You will see a little more slush and it may take you an extra scoop. I have noticed that my crooked hole problem I had with my lazermag is no longer. I think its from having the handles more on top than on the sides. Also, those handles are METAL! cough cough.

There is no slow spin. Hit the throttle and let the auger do the work. No pushing no forcing.

Maybe there is somebody on the board in your area that may let you drill some holes (their holes). Happy shopping

[magicstix]

Yes you do end up with some slush, if you give a good burp not much but your boots might get a wash too. I forgot how clean the hole was with the SM until I used my SM one day and realized "hey I don't have to scoop".

Fast? I think the solo 2.5 or 3/8" is faster, sure looks like it rips through the ice faster. You need to actually lift a little with nils or blades will grab too much.

I'm not about speed anymore, I want dependable and lighter weight. If I was looking today SM honda 8" or ION 8" strike my interest but I have no first hand expirence with them. Even a SM solo 2.5/8" would be ok. I'd maybe get a nils again if the price was right. I like the Tanaka motor the best about the Nils.

[aczr2k]

I guess I don't drill enough holes to consider the slush a problem. Couple of scoops with the hole slusher and its taken care of. Maybe I'm a poor fisherman because my idea of fishing is not drilling 150 holes per day. If I had to drill that many I'd probably go to a different lake.

Only complaint I have is catching on the bottom of the hole, I put my spare cutting head on and it must be a little different because it seems better. It does help when drilling 3'-4' of ice to pull up the auger and clean some of the ice shavings from the hole before breaking through.

Especially when using the extension...

[DTro]

I never realized how much slush was left in the hole with the Nils until I spent some time with a Strikemaster. A lot of times the way I fish is to drill a grid of holes and move from hole to hole frequently (although lately its been drill 3 holes and fish all night ). With the Nils, this was not possible to do without lugging around a scooper to clean up every hole when you were done cutting. Sometimes slush isn’t a horrible thing, especially in clear shallow water, but… you will likely find that you cant even drop your transducer through it without scooping.

you will also probably find that even when you think your hole is clean, rogue slush that you missed keeps filling in later on. The slush is caused by the cutting head being just a tad bigger than the auger flighting.

After using both for a few years now, I think the Nils might be a little more durably built but not without its own small quirks.

I can only report what I’ve found, and the amount of slush comparatively is not even close between the Nils and Strikemaster and the speed is a wash. The Nils I had started much better than the SM, but when it comes to starting, most small 2 stroke engines are all a krap shoot I think.

[dougger222]

Need to lift on the Nils when drilling, should never ever need any downpresure at all, blades are agressive and digs...Not sure what you mean by slow spin, mine don't spin slow, if you kick the shavings away you can get a fairly clean hole but i fill mine back up with the shovel so a non issue for me, when drilling holes to hole hop it;s not an issue with slush...As for speed they are fast and only run a 1.35 hp motor over your 3hp solo, I challeneged a guide friend of mine to run his solo against my nils, he declined but does envy mine...I wouldnt trade my nils for anything currently on the market, no plans to ever sell it for something else....

I was running a 2.5hp solo yesterday against the nils not a 3hp.

Right now you can buy a demo 2.5hp solo for $200 and a 8in lazer demo for $110. My buddy said he dropped about $700 on the nils. Unless my math is wrong you can get two demo units for the price of one nils and drill holes faster and have less slush with the nils.

After seeing the nils in action for the first time would simply stick with the solo and lazer. The amount of slush left behind with the nils was overwelming. I like to drill 50-100 holes and the amount of time it takes to clear the slush from the nils holes I can drill another slush free hole with the solo/lazer.

My buddy who owns the nils also agreed is a slow spinning auger but again he only has his brand new nils to compare it to. Could their be an issue with his Japanese motor? Seems odd a 10in bit would drill faster than a 8in nils which has always been coined as the fastest stock auger in the world.

I hate to say it but in this case I think the Germans outdid the Japs.

[Finn]

What?? You better have your friends take their NILS power augers for service if they are running slow. I never have to press down on my NILS and it has TANAKA 11000 rpm engine drill with 24:1 transmission. Shaft spins well over 400 rpm's when cutting into ice.

I have no issues with slush, it is a matter of user technique, I give it a bit throttle when I lift it out and end up with a clean hole everytime.

[dougger222]

What?? You better have your friends take their NILS power augers for service if they are running slow. I never have to press down on my NILS and it has TANAKA 11000 rpm engine drill with 24:1 transmission. Shaft spins well over 400 rpm's when cutting into ice.

I have no issues with slush, it is a matter of user technique, I give it a bit throttle when I lift it out and end up with a clean hole everytime.

He is not pushing down at all. He's 6'4 280lbs and when he drills he holds the handles on the bottom. His auger is tall and given his size it's a good fit!

[bee]

If you have slush left its your fault. After you are done cutting a couple up and down with the auger turning and its gone. I never use a skimmer. If your jigging some slush left is good.

[fisherman-andy]

My buddy who owns the nils also agreed is a slow spinning auger but again he only has his brand new nils to compare it to. Could their be an issue with his Japanese motor? Seems odd a 10in bit would drill faster than a 8in nils which has always been coined as the fastest stock auger in the world.

I hate to say it but in this case I think the Germans outdid the Japs.

Honestly I dont get the complain part with the slush. Your gonna have ice slush no matter what especially when you try to clear the mound of ice. Yes the lazer auger does leave the cut hole cleaner but who cares. I carry an ice skimmer anyhow and I hole hop all day long.

Plus the Nils is no way slow, if yours is slow you need to have the powerhead or blades looked at. It is as fast as the Solo Lazer Pro if not a tad quicker.

[dfeste]

Another happy Nils owner here. I have to agree with what the others have said, if the Nils is spinning slow there is something wrong with it. If I'm not mistaken the Tanaka power head should spin the auger faster than other manufacturers. Another reason I feel there may be a problem with the Nils mentioned above is that there is no way any stock 10" auger should come even close to cutting as quickly as an 8" Nils. Not sure if it's because that auger is brand new or not broken in yet or what the issue may be but something doesn't seem right here.

[Majestic]

Nils

Leaves slush in the hole, if you hole hop bring your scoop or your screwed even if you leave the throttle open as you spin back out.

Worst blade cover ever designed.

Better carry an extra head with you because if your up north or something and she goes dull your done.

It's lightweight, long, and pretty quick.

Strikemasters

Tad bit heavier, shorter so you might need an extension, but they are also pretty quick.

Holes stay clean no need for a scoop.

If your up north and it goes dull you can basically swing into any store or bait shop for new blades and your back in the saddle.

I went from Strikemaster to Nils and now back to Strikemaster.

Both are great augers though just depends what is most important to YOU in the real world.

[Northlander]

I laugh every time I see the slush in the hole/Nils topics. My Nils is faster than any other auger I have used, and I think I used all but the Huskavarna, its quieter, lighter and as long as I take care of the blades I can burn through ice. Ya there is more slush in the hole after because the auger fluting is smaller the the blade head. No issue for me.

Plus its the best hand auger out there.

Strikemaster makes great augers too. Even the newer Eskimos are good. Jiffies I had were also very good but heavy.

Get what fits your needs and price range. Most augers will give you many years of use when taken care of decently.

[tsande00]

My 3 year old 8" 2.5 HP Lazer is just a tad faster than my buddies Nils. I can see the anger boiling...probably because he spent almost twice as much. He also has to plunge the auger up and down in the hole several times to clear slush. I simply pull my auger out still spinning and there is virtually 0 slush in the hole. Neither of us have had any mechanical problems.

[bee]

Nils

Leaves slush in the hole, if you hole hop bring your scoop or your screwed even if you leave the throttle open as you spin back out.

Worst blade cover ever designed.

Better carry an extra head with you because if your up north or something and she goes dull your done. It's lightweight, long, and pretty quick.

Strikemasters

Tad bit heavier, shorter so you might need an extension, but they are also pretty quick.

Holes stay clean no need for a scoop.

If your up north and it goes dull you can basically swing into any store or bait shop for new blades and your back in the saddle.

I went from Strikemaster to Nils and now back to Strikemaster.

Both are great augers though just depends what is most important to YOU in the real world.

I beg to differ with you. If you spin your hole a couple times with the Nils you will get rid of the slush. No skimmer is needed.

[Lawrence Luoma]

I laugh every time I see the slush in the hole/Nils topics. My Nils is faster than any other auger I have used, and I think I used all but the Huskavarna, its quieter, lighter and as long as I take care of the blades I can burn through ice. Ya there is more slush in the hole after because the auger fluting is smaller the the blade head. No issue for me.

Plus its the best hand auger out there.

Strikemaster makes great augers too. Even the newer Eskimos are good. Jiffies I had were also very good but heavy.

Get what fits your needs and price range. Most augers will give you many years of use when taken care of decently.

I agree with you all the way till the hand auger part. There is a reason Team USA members will all be using Fin-Bores this weekend at the World Championships and they don't have an auger sponsor this year so it's all choice.

[BehindtheHead]

i never understood why the nils guys dont take there cutting heads to a machine shop and have them turned down to the size of the flighting. you would end up with a smaller hole but it wouldnt be a problem for most fishermen.

[magicstix]

i never understood why the nils guys dont take there cutting heads to a machine shop and have them turned down to the size of the flighting. you would end up with a smaller hole but it wouldnt be a problem for most fishermen.

Yup, you end up with about a 7-1/8" hole but a lot less slush. It works. I think its called a plasma cutter they use to do this.

[dfeste]

Because you should never mess with perfection.

[BehindtheHead]

Because you should never mess with perfection.

perfection wouldnt leave slush in the hole

[eyeguy 54]

love my nills, hate the slush ! LOL  

[Borch]

I like the slush. If you don't, swipe the chips on one side of the hole with your foot before you break threw and let it run for second or two.  This will flush it out.  Having some slush in a hole in shallow water on a sunny day is sometimes a benefit.  If fish are spooky on a sunny day fishing in the open put some slush in the hole.  You might be surprised.

[eyeguy 54]

I dont mind a little slush, i kick it away, auger it out and try lottsa stuff, still too much. but so far I dont need therapy.